2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

The Better Books bookshop has been around for a very long time but I never got the chance to pass by the place until just a few days ago. Recently a friend of mine started volunteering there and when I looked up the bookshop on Google Maps, I realized it was actually walking distance from my apartment. So, I decided to pass by the bookshop and check it out.

Better Books have over 10,000 used books (and some new ones) ranging from children’s books to cookbooks, novels, self-help books, you name it. The place is small but also really cozy with different seating areas and is stacked with books everywhere. They also have a cool buyback policy. When you buy a used book from Better Books and you’re done with it, you can sell it back to them for half the price. If you also have books you don’t need they’ll also take them off you and give you store credit for them.

Better Books are located in Salmiya and you can find them on Google Maps. They’re open daily from 4PM to 9PM on weekdays and 10:30AM to 8PM on weekends. They don’t have an Instagram account or website, but they’re on Facebook.

Around a year and a half ago, Vigonovo, the cozy Italian restaurant that was located in Salmiya closed down. But, they’ve now found a new location and will be reopening tonight!

The new Vigonovo is located in the Khaleejia Tower in the City, and I passed by and checked it out last week. The space is a lot bigger than their older location but Chef Marco still managed to keep it cozy. They also now have an outdoor area that overlooks a busy intersection, and since the weather is still good right now, I think that’s where everyone will want to sit. The whole place just looks and feels a lot nicer than the older one and Marco also has a bigger team to help him out this time around.

If you’re looking for a new place to try out then pass by them. For more information you can visit their instagram page @vigonovo_kw

Taqdeer Al Ehteyaj is a new Kuwaiti sitcom that takes place in a public sector office. There are four episodes out right now but I’ve only had time to watch the first one and actually found it funny. Well funny and sad at the same time since the humor in it is really how things are in reality at a public sector office. The sitcom is in Arabic and there are no English subtitles yet, but if you can understand Arabic then it’s really worth checking out.

The episodes are free to watch on Telly, no registration is required and the episodes are quick and short. Here is the link.

There’s a new social media challenge that’s gone viral called #Trashtag Challenge in which people are inspired to remove garbage from polluted areas. A couple of days back, Kuwait made the front page of Reddit with a local #Trashtag Challenge.

A user called Binshattan posted the picture above in which he and a small group went and cleaned up the Sulaibekhat Beach. As of right now, that post has 82,000 upvotes and over 770 comments.

Because of that publicity, the group size has now increased to 46 volunteers and they’ve started planning their next local #Trashtag Challenge. They’re actually planning to meet up tonight to discuss it so if you’re interested in being part of the next #Trashtag Challenge, email Binshattan on [email protected].

This past Friday was open track at the Kuwait Motor Town circuit and while the previous open tracks started early morning, this one started in the afternoon because the weather is a lot hotter. This meant that we would be racing in the evening which I had heard from friends was freaky because of the lack of proper lights and after trying it out myself, yeah it’s definitely freaky.

Not only is the track poorly lit, but there were corners and places on the track that barely had any lighting on them! I was driving with my high beams on but obviously that wasn’t enough. My only previous experience with night racing was in Bahrain, but their track is properly lit up at night. Just to compare the difference, the video on top is from this past Friday at the KMT circuit, while the one below is from Bahrain last year.

A huge difference as you can see. But, on the bright side, I did hear they will be adding more lights on the track this summer when it closes down for maintenance. Hopefully they’ll be as bright as the Bahrain circuit ones.

This past Thursday I flew in and out of Terminal 4 with Kuwait Airways. The last time I flew out was around 6 months ago and when I did I posted about it. Since then, some things have changed, so here is an update on the airport today:

Firstly parking, I previously posted that parking is no longer free at T4. But, what you need to make sure of is that you don’t park your car in the short term parking lot by mistake when traveling, even if it’s just for a day. The tricky part is the entrances to all the parking lots look the same except for a small sign at the gate that mentions if its short term or long term. There are also multiple entries to the short term lot but just one for the long term, so it’s easy to park in the wrong lot. If you look at the map below I’ve highlighted the location of the long term lot.

The first time I flew out of T4, the self-check-in machines weren’t working. They work now and I was able to check in and print my boarding pass from one of the self-check-in machines, and then just head towards passport control directly.

Terminal 4 was packed when I was there Thursday morning. I think I actually prefer flying out of the main terminal because it no longer feels busy with Kuwait Airways no longer operating from there. T4 doesn’t have enough seating and the airport feels super packed because it’s so small and busy.

Right now the terminal duty-free area is going under major construction (pictured on top), but the following places are open:

Small temporary duty-free shop
WHSmith (a really nice one)
Blend It Kiosk
Costa kiosk
Starbucks kiosk

The following restaurants and cafes are planning to open up soon based on the hoardings I saw:

Cafe Coco
Caribou Coffee
Le Pain Quotidien
McCafe
McDonald’s

I spotted three lounges this time at the airport. Bayan Lounge, Al-Mubarakiya Lounge and a Transit Lounge. Previously the Al-Mubarakiya lounge was only for business class passengers, I think that’s changed now because there was a long queue outside the Al-Mubarakiya lounge when I passed by. I couldn’t check and see what cards would get you into the lounge but according to the Kuwait Airways page, it costs KD9 to enter it if you don’t have a card.

On arrival, the airport was empty since we were the only plane that had arrived at the time. So passport control was a breeze and it didn’t take long for me to be back at my car. This is really the biggest plus for me over the main terminal, a much nicer arrival hall.

Overall not a terrible experience, I just wish the airport had more seating areas (or preferably, a lot fewer people).

Lots to do and see this weekend and as usual, if I missed anything, let me know in the comments:

Thursday
Exhibition: Sami Mohammad
Sami Mohammad Artist Talk x Closing Reception
Exhibition: Passion of Calligraphy
Palestinian Cultural Exhibition
Play: The Seagull
Games & Media Entertainment Expo
Neo Geo World Tour 2
GX2019 Cosplay Contest
Breaking Khaleeji Cultural Myths

Friday
Exhibition: Passion of Calligraphy
Play: The Seagull
Games & Media Entertainment Expo
Neo Geo World Tour 2
A New World: intimate music from FINAL FANTASY
Breaking Khaleeji Cultural Myths
Open Track Day at Kuwait Motor Town

Saturday
Exhibition: Passion of Calligraphy
Play: The Seagull
Games & Media Entertainment Expo
Neo Geo World Tour 2
Sadi Studio Opening

If you’d like to share an event on the blog [Email Me]
For a full list of upcoming events click [Here]

Sometimes events get canceled or have details changed so always double-check with the organizers.

Screenshot from Stockholm

The movies below are now showing at Cinescape, Grand Cinemas and VOX:

New This Weekend:
Kursk (6.5)
Missing Link (7.1)
Mission of Honor (5.9)
Stockholm (7.5)
Teen Spirit (6.2)
The Curse of La Llorona (6.4)
The Hummingbird Project (6.6)
Triple Threat (5.6)

Other Movies Showing Now:
After (6.3)
Captain Marvel (6.0)
Captive State (5.9)
Dragged Across Concrete (7.3)
Dumbo (7.1)
Five Feet Apart (7.2)
Hellboy (6.2)
Little (5.2)
Pet Sematary (6.9)
Shazam! (8.1)
The Aftermath (6.2)
The Hole in the Ground (5.8)
The Professor and the Madman (7.9)
The Wind (5.8)
Us (7.3)
Wonder Park (7.1)

The movies below are also now showing at the Scientific Center IMAX theater:

Amazon Adventure 3D (6.6)
Fly Me to the Moon (4.5)
Galapagos 3D (8.6)
Oceans: Our Blue Planet (7.4)
Penguins (6.7)

Numbers in brackets refer to the IMDB rating at time of publishing.

If you haven’t been following the news recently, I’ll quickly summarize what’s been going on in regards to the World Cup. Qatar is meant to host the World Cup in 2022 and FIFA is considering expanding the tournament from 32 teams to 48. For that to happen, FIFA calculated it could be done if at least one additional Gulf country was used to co-host the World Cup with Qatar. Since Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have severed ties with Qatar, the only two countries left are Oman and Kuwait. Oman already said they aren’t capable of hosting the World Cup so FIFA is urging Kuwait to become a co-host.

Countries spend millions on campaigns to try and win the right to host the World Cup, it’s HUGE. And yet because of a bunch of unusual circumstances, Kuwait is now in the position where they are basically being begged by FIFA to accept the role of co-hosting. That’s just crazy.

I don’t know why people aren’t more excited about this, Kuwait could potentially be hosting the World Cup here in 3 years! And the best part is, the whole thing just fell into our laps without us even getting off the couch!

I was asking a few friends why Kuwait is playing so hard to get, I mean you’d think we’d be all over this massive opportunity. One theory is we don’t want to embarrass ourselves because we aren’t capable to host the event. I don’t think that’s really an issue because I’m sure we can throw money at this problem by hiring the right people to help us out and by fixing whatever needs to be fixed so we look good on TV. Another theory to why we’re hesitant is that there would have to be some major changes that would have to happen very quickly with the two biggest changes being to the visa system and the legalization of alcohol. This I can understand but it’s also one of the reasons I want the World Cup to happen, I want to see how much positive change it will bring to Kuwait.

Whatever happens, we host or not, I feel we really need to appreciate this position we’re in right now where we actually have a pretty large chance of getting the World Cup. This is a moment that will most likely never come again.

A couple of weeks back a friend of mine had a dead car battery so I went to help her out. When I got to her car I spotted what I thought was an undercover cop talking to her. The guy had an old Mercedes with flashing lights, and he was wearing a yellow reflective vest. After talking to him I found out he was part of a volunteer rescue team called Dar Subhan who are always on the lookout for people needing help.

I was meaning to post about them but completely forgot until yesterday while riding my bicycle on the Gulf Road I spotted a rescue team helping a car out. There was a Nissan Patrol that had gotten stuck on the beach trying to pull in his boat and the rescue team were helping him. I thought it was the same rescue team that I had run into a couple weeks ago but this one was called Kuwait Support and Rescue Team (KSRT).

KSRT have been active for around a year now while Dar Subhan have only been around since March. I’m not sure how many other volunteer teams there are but if you ever have any car trouble or are stuck out in the desert, it could be worth giving these guys a call instead of the emergency services. Here are their contacts including links to their instagram account:

Dar Subhan Rescue Team
97732441 / 91111584

Kuwait Support and Rescue Team
97865006 / 94147001 / 67651169

Update: Here is another

Kuwait Rescue Team
66665488 / 98809058

Kuwaiti racecar driver Zaid Ashkanani was on the winning team at the season opener for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup a few days ago. This was not only Zaid’s first debut with the Dinamic Motorsport team, but the team themselves were also making their first debut at the Blancpain GT.

Dinamic drivers Klaus Bachler, Zaid Ashkanani and Andrea Rizzoli (all pictured below) started 23rd on the grid but managed to end up winning by a 14-second margin in a second-generation Porsche 911 GT3-R. They gave the Porsche brand their first Endurance Cup victory since 2012.

This was the first race of the season so there is still a long way to go but nevertheless, it was an incredible debut. You can stay up to date on Zaid’s activities by following him on Instagram @zaidashkanani

The chart above hit the front page of Reddit a couple of days ago. It excludes islands or else Bahrain would also have been on the list right behind Kuwait. If you’re wondering the reason for the high emissions, it’s because the oil and gas industries generate a lot of CO2. Here is the source of the data.

The pop-up restaurant which uses a crane to raise diners up into the air got shut down by the municipality. According to Arab Times, the pop-up was shut down for violation of safety conditions and because they had not obtained the necessary license from the authorities.

I just checked the Dinner in the Sky instagram account and they don’t mention anything about being shut down. In fact, as of last night, they were still open and serving dinner according to their story.

A barcade called Joystixx is currently under construction in the basement of Symphony Mall in Salmiya. A barcade is basically and arcade with a bar. I’ve been to a few outside Kuwait, and the ones that I’ve been to usually have old classic arcade games and are really fun places because you can just get drunk and play fun old video games with friends.

The one opening in Kuwait obviously won’t have alcohol, but from what I understood it’s going to be a similar concept, except more of a cafe instead of a bar, so I guess a cafecade? Not sure that’s a real word. They’re hoping to open it sometime during Ramadan. Fun.

Here is a small business that isn’t a coffee shop.. a skate shop. Gulf Coast Skate Shop is a local business that is trying to support skateboarders in Kuwait. They don’t have a physical store, just an Instagram account which is fine. The only thing annoying though is they don’t have prices listed, so when you find something you like, you need to DM them for a quote which is a hassle.

If you’re a skateboarder and need boards, trucks, grip tape, wheels, etc.. then check them out @gulfcoastskate